The Toronto Maple Leafs GM and the defenseman agreed on a one-year, $2 million contract Thursday, ending a staring contest that lasted until less than a week before opening night. The deal doesn't fix the Leafs' short-term cap issues, but it is another restricted free agent win for Nonis, as was center Nazem Kadri's two-year, $5.9 million deal.

Cody Franson was sixth in points among NHL defensemen last season. (AP Photo)

For Franson, the question becomes whether a short-term deal that doesn't take him to unrestricted free agency was preferable to whatever he'd have gotten had he and his agent taken a different route; if he wanted a four-year contract, the Leafs' most productive defenseman in 2013 would have it "right now" had he filed for arbitration, an NHL source told Sporting News.

In all likelihood, the source said, the Leafs and Franson would've settled on that before any hearing, as has been the case with every arbitration case the last two years, and the outcome wouldn't have been an less preferable two-year deal.

Instead, Franson and his agent eventually focused on a one-year deal that, according to Sportsnet, paid him less than the Leafs had been offering annually over two years. The plus side: He'll again have the option to file for arbitration after next season, and if he's sixth among NHL defensemen in points, as he was in 2013, he'll have his options—but he won't be an unrestricted free agent.

The contract, good as it is for the team, also means that the Leafs clear salary space and at least one roster spot, likely from its blue line; that situation is only made worse by David Clarkson's 10-game suspension. The second-line winger's $5.25 million salary will stay on the books during that time.